Manchester City ready £50m bid for Virgil van Dijk with spending spree set to continue

Manchester City will continue their aggressive approach in this summer’s transfer market by making a £50 million bid for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, according to Paul Joyce and Gary Jacob of The Times.

City face competition from both Chelsea and Liverpool for the 25-year-old Dutch international but are prepared to offer a five-year deal worth £180,000-a-week – nearly four times his current salary – that they hope will see off tough competition for Van Dijk’s signature.

Van Dijk would partner John Stones long-term in the middle of a new-look Manchester City defence worth £200 million that, if all goes to plan, would see Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy come in as the full-backs.

Guardiola is looking to add up to six high-level signings this summer with Bernardo Silva already in and Ederson Moraes just missing an official announcement after he told a Portuguese newspaper tonight that he had signed.

Alexis Sánchez is another major target, with yesterday’s edition of The Times reporting that the Chilean has told Arsenal he wants to leave. If City are to sign the 28-year-old, they may have to see off competition from Bayern Munich and possibly Chelsea.